


The scholarship

by bunnysworld



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, M/M, Pornstars, Rentboys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-11
Updated: 2013-11-11
Packaged: 2018-01-01 04:07:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1040150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/pseuds/bunnysworld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy and Arthur are in the school’s football team and room together. While Arthur doesn’t need to worry about money, Percy has to rethink every spending decision twice. And then Arthur notices a change in Percy…</p>
            </blockquote>





	The scholarship

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for LJ-community's sexstars fest. Thanks to the mods for this fun fest!
> 
> Thanks to issy for the beta!  
> Thanks to eurydice72 for the prompt. This might have turned out a little less sexy and a lot more emotional than you had in mind, sowwy? I’m not really familiar with the scholarship stuff since it doesn’t work like that in my part of the world. Any mistakes there are mine and mine only. And sorry, I’m bad with titles and it shows. *hangs head in shame*
> 
> And because I always seem to forget to add it: The guys belong to Shine and the BBC. No copyright infringement intended. I just took them out to play a little and put them back unharmed.

Arthur munched on a banana and looked at the screen of his laptop. This homework wouldn’t do itself, so with a sigh, he decided to finally get started once he was done with his daily dose of fruit. 

He stopped chewing when he noticed Percy, his roommate, straightening the collar of his polo shirt in front of the mirror and running a hand through his freshly cropped hair.

“Going out?” Arthur asked around a mouthful of banana.

“Mhmm.” Percy grabbed his jacket. 

“That’s the third time this week. She must be pretty special.” Stuffing the rest of the banana into his mouth, Arthur tossed the peel in the general direction of the bin – and missed. 

Percy didn’t comment and just grabbed his jacket. “Don’t wait up for me.”

Arthur didn’t give it any more thought and finally started that report he had to hand in the next morning.

+++

A few days later, Arthur tried to get more info out of Percy. 

“You’ve been out every single night of the week!” 

“So?” Percy squinted at his screen and didn’t even turn around.

“That’s not like you at all! Usually, we come back from practice and you can’t get enough food into you. And then you sit down to study.” Arthur had jumped up and paced their small room. 

“Yeah, so?” 

“And then we hang out here or downstairs and watch a movie or discuss tactics with the others. Fuck, most weekends we have to drag you out with us. It’s not normal for you to go out so often. Especially not on weeknights!” Arthur sat down on Percy’s bed, right behind him and leaned forward. “She must be very _very_ special.” He said conspiratorially.

“There’s nobody special.” Percy insisted as he reached for a textbook.

“But you never usually go out through the week! There has to be someone, tell me about her!” Arthur jumped up only to sit down on his own bed, grabbed a pillow and hugged it to his chest, looking at Percy excitedly.

Percy looked up and just threw him a disapproving look. “You are aware of the fact that you look like one of those frat girls in the movies, aren’t you?”

Frowning, Arthur tossed the pillow aside. “Don’t try to change topic! Who is she?”

Sighing, Percy looked at the screen of his laptop. “Some people have work to do.”

“Aww, don’t be like that…oh…oh wait! It’s not a girl, it’s a bloke! Am I right? Oh, look at you blushing! No need to blush about that, Perce, especially not with me, you know that. Congrats! You should bring him so I can meet him!”

Percy rolled his eyes. “You’re not my mother, Pendragon. And there is nobody you have to meet. Just let me work now, okay?”

Arthur grinned as he picked his laptop up again. So there was someone new in Percy’s life and that someone was a bloke. Who’d have thought that Percy swung that way? Oh, the possibilities! Instead of finishing his essay, Arthur daydreamed about what he would do with Percy if he ever had the chance.

+++

Of course Arthur had thrown glances at Percy since the first time they’d met in their room. Him, the heir of Pendragon Industries who never had to worry about money in all of his life and Percival Henry Jones, the kid with the scholarship who turned each cent around twice before he spent it. But he sure was a looker and just Arthur’s type with his tall built, broad shoulders and well-defined muscles. 

Since Percy was a teammate, he was off limits, though. As much as Arthur peeked in the showers after practice, as often as his fingers itched to touch the impressive biceps, to run his fingers over the soft-looking skin in Percy’s neck when he bent his head down to type something on his laptop, he held back. Percy never showed any interest in any of them, so Arthur assumed the few dates he went on – that Arthur knew about – were with some cute girl or other. 

That he seemed to have a boyfriend gave the situation a whole new twist. It would still be awkward if Arthur made a move and Percy wasn’t interested. And now that Percy had a boyfriend, it was bit too late to make a move, wasn’t it? So all Arthur could do was wait, even though he never was the patient kind. Maybe they would split up some time soon? Then Arthur would be there to offer a shoulder to cry on and if it were up to him, a lot more. 

And until then, Arthur leaned back and used the time he had in their room alone for long wanking sessions while imagining what Percy might be doing to his boyfriend.

+++

After Morgana had sent him some clips of new guys at her company, Arthur felt restless. He knew exactly that Morgana had just bought that little porn film company to rile up their father. But after a while she had found she liked producing gay porn. She was constantly surrounded by good-looking blokes, none of them who ever tried to get it on with her just for a better contract or more money. And since she knew that Arthur loved the short snippets of the new twinks she sent him, she had a lot of fun teasing him with them. 

He had just received an email with a large attachment of photos and small clips – none of them explicit, just teasing – and after looking at the stuff, Arthur could have jumped anything in sight. The only thing in sight, though, was Percy, hunched over a book, reading. 

“Wanna go to the club?”

Percy looked up. “Nah, can’t.”

“Work to do…” Arthur sighed. “I see.”

“Yeah.” 

Percy still had his nose deep in his book as Arthur checked his looks in the mirror by the door after changing into a fresh t-shirt and his favorite jeans and shoved his mobile into the front pocket. “See you in the morning.”

Arthur didn’t really think of Percy for hours. That he was probably pining for him for quite a while didn’t mean he couldn’t have a bit of fun, right? He’d found a cute bloke to dance with and later to snog, so what did he care what Percy’s new boyfriend looked like? This Merlin was a hottie, he had every intention of getting laid tonight. 

But then…was that Percy sneaking into the back room of the club? Arthur blinked and then returned to the task at hand which was snogging the hell out of Merlin. He moaned when he felt the long strong fingers under his t-shirt and frowned when Merlin pulled back.

“Be right back.” 

Arthur just stood there, a bit dumb-founded. Why on earth would anyone run off to the loos while they were involved in a serious necking session? Too bad, he thought they were getting somewhere. Maybe he just needed to wait and see if the bloke really did come back? 

Sipping his beer, Arthur looked around and…there was Percy again, coming out of the back room, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Oh, so his friend had gotten lucky? Good for him. But where was his boyfriend? Arthur blinked again. That couldn’t be. It was probably the light or Percy had something else in his hand, but for a moment it had looked as if he’d shoved money into the front pocket of his jeans. This couldn’t be! Percy was on a scholarship, yes, but he was always careful in what he spent, so he had enough money to make it through everyday student life. 

Arthur looked at his beer bottle. He probably had one too many already.

“Sorry ‘bout that. I’m back.” Merlin appeared in front of him again, a huge grin on his handsome face. “Where were we?”

With Merlin’s arms around his neck and his tongue in down his throat, Arthur forgot all about Percy. 

+++

From the next day on, Arthur watched Percy a bit closer. He hadn’t come home until the early morning hours, taken a very long shower and then fallen into his bed like a sack of potatoes. 

“Must have been a good night?” Arthur sipped from his tea and pretended to revise for the next history test. 

“Mmmm. Got some tea for me, too?” Percy slowly came to as Arthur handed him a mug. 

“You’re not going out tonight again, are you?”

Yawning widely, Percy stretched and then swung his legs over the edge of the bed. “Probably. Don’t know yet.” 

“I met this cute bloke last night. Merlin.”

Usually an announcement like that dropped like a bomb. It was rare that Arthur talked about men he liked. Any other day, Percy would have perked up, knowing the guy was special, but not today. He just rubbed a hand over his face and ruffled his short hair. 

“I said…I met a cute bloke…his name: Merlin?” Arthur tried again.

Percy got up and stretched again. “Yeah, you said that.”

“Merlin and Arthur, wouldn’t that be a hoot?”

“Mmm.” Percy made his way to the bathroom leaving a frowning Arthur behind.

 

Later, while Arthur was still pulling his hair out over his history revision, Percy was on the phone and only made a few ‘hmm’-sounds and then said ‘yes, see you’, got dressed and left again. Arthur stared at the door that had closed behind Percy. For someone who was so much into his new boyfriend that he neglected his friends and his studies, Percy hadn’t sounded very enthusiastic on the phone. And the few times Percy had been with someone before, he never ran out on a day before a test; especially if he’d only come home so early in the morning. There was something up and Arthur had to figure out what it was. 

+++

Rinsing the shampoo out of his hair, Arthur enjoyed the warm spray of the showers after a hard training session. They had lost the last game and the coach had worked them even harder than usual. He was sure he’d feel it in every muscle come morning, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad feeling. 

“How did that test go for you, Perce?”

Arthur knew that Percy was in the shower next to him, he didn’t need to open an eye and get shampoo in it to check.

“Was okay.” Lately, Percy was even more mono-syllabic that usually.

“Good for you. I studied all weekend and struggled through it. Especially question four. That was tough.”

Percy didn’t answer and as Arthur had rinsed his hair and peeked over at Percy, he saw him busy with the shower gel, almost scrubbing his massive chest. And oh! What was that? 

Arthur smirked. “That’s a hickey, Perce, it won’t wash off. Wow, that new boy of yours seems very eager.”

Turning his back to Arthur, Percy said nothing and Arthur frowned. It wasn’t like Percy to not jump into their banter any chance he got. 

+++

Arthur threw an irritated look at Percy’s desk. The mobile next to the laptop was buzzing and that sound annoyed him to no end. He had an English test coming up, he needed to study.

“Perce? Percy!” He yelled in the general direction of their little bathroom, but the water was running, so Percy didn’t hear him. But that was okay, the buzzing had stopped.

Only to set in again a moment later. That was one persistent caller! Arthur scrambled up. He could as well tell them that Percy would call back later.

“Yeah, hello?”

“Mr. Jones! This is Anna from the Financial Aid Office, I’ve been trying to reach you for days now. I probably shouldn’t tell you on the phone, but…there was board meeting…Mr. Jones, I’m very sorry, there is nothing they can do. If it were just for Creative Arts, we could work something out, but it’s Communications and Business, too. Your GPA hasn’t increased since last semester.”

Arthur held his breath, this was nothing he should hear, this was not for his ears. But before he could get in a word, Anna went on.

“They’re very sorry, but your scholarship has been revoked.”

 

+++

Still sitting where he’d slumped down after Anna had ended the call, Arthur’s mind was running a mile a minute. Percy had failed a few classes. Not one, but a few. And being on a scholarship meant, you had to stay above a certain average to get the money. Failing meant no money, no football, leaving school. Percy was the best offensive lineman this school had seen in ages. He would make it big in the NFL. If…yes, if he made it through school. And to make it, he needed those grades and the money the scholarship brought. Arthur knew it was a vicious circle. If you failed one thing, everything else fell apart. 

But why hadn’t Percy asked for help? There were lots of athletes who got tutors. There was a reason for that cliché in the movies. Percy was proud, Arthur knew that. In the beginning he made the mistake to try to buy Percy meals and drinks. Percy had never accepted. But he had tried anyway. Until that one night where Percy had spat in his face that just because he wasn’t rich didn’t mean he needed handouts. 

Before he even made the conscious decision, he knew he needed to help Percy out of this. He would just go and talk to his father about this. But no, that wasn’t a good idea. Father believed in working hard. And flunking a class just meant you hadn’t given your best and weren’t worth it. Maybe it would help if he just offered his knowledge? He knew nothing about Creative Arts but he was quite good at everything business, but that would only mean one better grade for Percy. And how could he offer his help anyway? Officially he didn’t even know about Percy’s dilemma. 

While he sat there, brooding, Percy came out of the bathroom, dressed to the nines. 

“You’re leaving AGAIN?” Arthur stared at Percy who just grabbed his jacket. How could he go out in a situation like this? He needed to sort this out, needed to get better grades, to show the board that he was worth getting the scholarship back, he needed to stay in school, and the team needed him! 

“Yes, I am going out again. What’s your problem, Arthur? Do you have to comment on each and every single thing I do lately? You’re not my mother, leave me alone!” With that, he left and slammed the door behind him.

Arthur could only stare at it. Why was Percy so angry? They were friends and he wanted to help. This boyfriend of Percy’s was no good for him if he made him neglect his studies. But how could Arthur even hint at that without revealing that he had accepted a phone call that wasn’t his to hear? 

Maybe, Arthur pondered, maybe Percy had gone looking for a wealthy bloke to go out with, so he wouldn’t have to worry about his tuition any longer? And he didn’t really like that man all that much? He dismissed that thought as too odd. If Percy had done something that crazy, he would find ways to get out of dates, right? Arthur couldn’t come up with an answer; what exactly did he know about Percy?

After a while, a message of his sister popping up on his screen ripped him out of his thoughts.

_We’re casting a new movie. Why don’t you come over and hang out on set for a while?_

Rolling his eyes, Arthur sighed. Morgana did that all the time. Every time they started a new production, she teased him with the possibility of getting to know one of her ‘actors’ so he would finally get some. 

But maybe he could go there to just…look? The thing with Merlin hadn’t gone anywhere and Arthur was almost desperate enough to call one of his exes again for a night of fun. And it would probably get his mind off that thing with Percy or give him a brilliant new idea of how he could help him. Chewing on his lower lip, he stared at Morgana’s message. What harm could it do if he visited the set? He didn’t have to stay for the action, right?

_Sure. When?_

+++

If it surprised Morgana that Arthur had finally accepted one of her invitations, she didn’t show it. As a matter of fact, he hadn’t even seen her since he entered the building. 

Arthur just stood in a large room, his hands deep in the pockets of his jeans, his shoulders pulled up to his ears. It had been a stupid idea to come here. There were tons of good-looking blokes in various states of being undressed. Arthur had no issue with his own body. He played football, he couldn’t get any fitter, but so many people…and all of them were going to have sex…in front of a camera, too!...that made him uncomfortable. 

Peeking around the room where a scene was being set up, Arthur almost shrugged. He had no idea of how he had pictured the set of a porn movie, but it didn’t seem to be anything special. A bed, a nightstand, some magazines on the floor. Some people setting up lights and such. Arthur was sure that some of them gorgeous blokes that were pacing up and down the corridor would tumble into the bed soon and get it on. 

“Hey, blondie!” A bloke with longish brown hair and an irresistible grin on his handsome face pointed at Arthur. “Yeah, you. Come here.”

“I’m…” Arthur walked over, but before he could continue, the man went on.

“Strip down to your undies but leave the t-shirt on. So…you weren’t there when we explained this to everyone. You’ll come in, pull the t-shirt over your head, get out of your boxers – you’re a boxers-man, aren’t you? – and then you just start to wank. Do whatever you like to do with yourself. But do not look at the camera. Under any circumstances, hear me? Okay, fine, you still got a few minutes, we’ll start with someone else.”

Arthur still stood rooted to the spot, a fierce blush burning on his cheeks, as the bloke walked away and already seemed to have forgotten all about him.

An amused chuckle made him spin around. “Morgana.”

“Little brother!” She came over and kissed his cheek. “I see you’ve met Gwaine already. He must have deemed you hot enough to be the star of this.”

Arthur blushed harder. 

“Oh, come on, don’t look as if we’ll force you.” She smirked. “But if you want to join in…” 

“You’d take any chance you can get to kill father, don’t you?” But Arthur couldn’t help returning the grin. Uther Pendragon had been furious when he found out that Morgana had bought a little film company that produced gay porn. But picturing him finding out that his son was the star of one of Morgana’s productions…that was an image that would cheer Arthur up for a long time. 

“I just want you to have some fun. You look like you need it.” She pointed to one of the director chairs in the background and the catering table. “Help yourself.” Then she hurried away.

+++

Arthur didn’t get how they all could see this as work. Nobody got excited or bothered in the slightest as gorgeous bloke after gorgeous bloke came in and did the same scene over and over. Just watching them pulling their t-shirts over their heads and revealing lots of skin made Arthur shift in his seat. Not all of them were his type, some were too short to do anything for him, others were too hairy. But Morgana had assured him that there was a market for most everything, so he watched them all, shimmying out of their underwear, running their hands over their chests, some teasing their nipples, some going straight for their cocks to pump them. 

Some of them got really into it, totally forgetting about the camera, their eyes closed, their hands playing with their pricks and balls. Some got really loud, dirty-talking the camera like they would try to turn on an imaginary lover. 

Shifting in his seat, Arthur tried to carefully rearrange his half-hard cock. How could nobody else find this…well, how did he find it? If he managed to forget that there were other people and a camera, he found some of the guys really hot and the scene arousing, even though he never thought that voyeurism was his thing. As soon as he came back to reality, it was just disturbing that some people would show this most private, intimate moment off to whoever cared to look. 

He felt sympathy for the men who couldn’t do a thing as soon as the camera was rolling. It must be embarrassing to go to a porn casting, being convinced to be able to do anything anywhere and then finding out that their bodies decided not to find the setting too comfortable. 

After a while, though, the whole thing got boring. Arthur couldn’t believe it. He’d never seen so many naked men in one place before. Okay, he had, in the locker room, but that was different. Just as he took a sip of water, Morgana appeared at his side.

“Having fun, little brother?”

Arthur blushed. “Yeah…kind of.”

She laughed. “Kind of. They all look the same after a while, don’t they?”

Nodding, Arthur took a sip from his water bottle and then screwed the top back on. “Yeah. I mean…it’s like…I don’t know. They’re all giving everything away so freely.”

“Oh, don’t think that. It costs me a whole lot of money to find the best. The ones that will be capable to go through with everything in the end. This is just wanking. Imagine how difficult it must be to have sex with someone you just met a few minutes before and that you might not even like.”

Arthur was still surprised how easily Morgana could talk about this stuff. “Is the set so expensive?”

“The set? Nah, that’s cheap. But they do get paid. Even for this. So we can use all the usable snippets for advertising and such.”

“So there’s big money in it just for a casting?”

“That’s why we have so many applicants, we’re the only company who does that.” Morgana smirked. “Why do you ask? Need to make a little bit of money on the side, little brother?”

Even though a blush was burning high on his cheeks, he shoved at Morgana’s arm. “Stop it!” Arthur slid of his chair. “I think I’ve seen enough.”

“Going home to have fun with yourself?” Morgana’s smirk widened. “Why don’t you say hi to one of them? They might be very interested. I think I’ve heard some whispers about you back there.”

“English test first thing in the morning. Thanks for the…insightful afternoon.”

+++

Of course, Arthur tossed all his stuff into a corner and had a nice long wanking session when he got home, the images of all the different men floating through his mind. He had never been really interested in watching actual porn, he just didn’t see the sense it in. What was the use of watching guys fucking when you couldn’t join in? But being in the same room, watching them wanking, had been a real turn-on. Arthur came really hard, took a shower and then turned back to preparing for his English test. 

He was still seated on his bed, surrounded by his books and laptop when Percy came in.

“Hey there.”

“Hi.” 

Arthur watched Percy hang up his jacket and take his shoes off. 

“How was your day?”

“Good.” The way Percy avoided to look at Arthur and how he took something out of the pocket of his jeans and shoved it into the drawer of his nightstand, so Arthur wouldn’t really see what it was, told him differently. If Percy had had a good day, he would have told him about it. Then again, Percy didn’t tell him anything at all lately. 

“Nice.” 

All the worries from just this morning were back. Arthur didn’t want Percy to leave. He was a nice roommate, tidy, quiet, with a wicked sense of humor. If Arthur had to share a room with someone at all (and it was something father had insisted on when he came here), it had to be Percy. And that had nothing to do with the fact that he was almost 2 meters tall, had biceps to dream about, small hips and a tight little arse that made Arthur’s mouth water.

Hello? Since when did he have thoughts like that about Percy? It must have been because of his afternoon at Morgana’s. Yeah, that was it. All Morgana’s fault.

If he were honest, though, it didn’t need an afternoon on the set of a porn movie to have these thoughts about Percy. They had always been there, just well-hidden and tucked away in the far corner of his mind. Percy was his friend, probably the first person he cared about aside from himself, Arthur didn’t want to lose that. 

But now it looked like he would lose Percy completely. As a team-mate, a roomie and a friend. Arthur stared at the book in his hand, not seeing a word that was written there. He had to find a way to make Percy stay at school. He knew that Percy had no family. He had worked hard all of his life to make it on his own. And now all that he had worked for seemed to blow up.

Percy just came back from the shower and pulled an old t-shirt over his head. Arthur couldn’t help but looking at him, a little sad that his view of all those glorious muscles vanished under fabric. 

“I need to study.”

Arthur almost jumped. This was the first thing that Percy had said of his own accord in days. “Need help?”

“Nah.” Percy swung one of his legs over the back of his chair and sat down, leafing through his notepad, frowning as he obviously wasn’t really able to decipher his own handwriting. 

Leaning back against the wall, Arthur just watched Percy’s back, the way every move pulled the thin fabric of his t-shirt tightly over his muscles, the way Percy bent his neck. A deep breath, that could qualify as a sigh, made his way out of his mouth as he saw some droplets from Percy’s still-wet hair rolling down his neck. 

“Huh?” Percy looked up and turned. “You okay?”

Arthur realized he hadn’t turned a single page in the book he was holding for half an hour now and quickly remedied that. “Yeah…yeah, nothing wrong.”

They fell silent again, each reading their material, when Arthur looked up again. “And you? Everything okay with you?”

Percy threw him a strange look. “Sure. Why would anything be off?”

Maybe that was the moment to tell Percy that he knew about his troubles with paying for school, even though Arthur didn’t know how to address the topic. But then Percy turned back to his studies and the moment was over.

+++

Arthur was sure he flunked the test. He had been prepared, had read all the material and the test was easy enough. But halfway through the essay part, he realized why Percy seemed to be rather calm. Okay, he probably wasn’t really calm with his weird behavior lately; him running out any chance he got, going on dates and not seeming very happy about them. He might have known all the time that his scholarship was at stake. But…Arthur could have slapped himself…Percy didn’t really know yet that his scholarship was revoked, did he? He, Arthur, had taken the call and not been able to tell Percy about it. Percy didn’t even know yet!

He made his way back to their room, trying to think of a way to confess that he’d answered a call he wasn’t supposed to hear. Maybe he would just tell Percy and then offer his help? That would be the best thing to do.

When Arthur entered their room, Percy was standing by his bed, staring at a letter in his hand. 

“I think I flunked my test.”

“Hmm.” Percy didn’t move.

“Everything okay, Perce?” Arthur threw his book bag onto his own bed and toed his shoes off. 

Tossing the letter on his bed, Percy snarled a “None of your business.” and almost ran out, slamming the door shut. 

Arthur couldn’t help but peeking at the letter Percy had been holding. It was there, on his bed, in the open. If Percy didn’t want him to read, he would have stuffed it in a drawer, right? So he didn’t touch it and craned his neck. He didn’t need to read it at all when he saw it was from the Financial Aid Office. 

They were asking Percy to come in and talk to them as soon as possible. Which sounded to Arthur like either Percy would have to pay for this semester, or he was being asked to remove his belongings from school grounds by the end of the month.

+++

First, Arthur checked his own funds. He knew he would get a shitload of money by the time he turned 21. But that was another year away and he needed the money right now. He would just go and pay anonymously and Percy would never find out. He’d already ruled out asking his father. Before he was faced with the ‘no’ he was certain would come after going through a lot of questions about why he wanted to help, he would rather spend the time trying to find a different way. 

He jumped when his mobile went off. “Yeah?”

“Hey, little brother. We have another casting today and I thought you might be interested?”

Morgana! She might be the person to ask. Well, probably not for the money, but she usually had good ideas and when she bought her little company it was on the verge of dying and now she made a good profit. So she would probably know what to do to keep Percy in school!

“Coming!”

 

His sister tossed her long hair back over her shoulder and greeted him with a wide grin. “That was quick.”

“I need to talk to you, Gana.”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest and threw him a mock-frown. “What do you want? You only call me ‘Gana’ when you want something.”

“Gana, this is important. Can we talk?”

Just then, Gwaine walked by and grinned. “Hey, man, sorry for the mix-up the other day.” He let his eyes wander over Arthur’s body. “But if you ever change your mind…”

“Shove off, Gwaine,” Morgana laughed and rolled her eyes. 

Arthur looked after Gwaine as he walked to the door. “Bet he gets everyone he wants.”

Chuckling, Morgana shook her head. “The only one he wants is Leon, our camera man. He might flirt with everything that doesn’t move out of the way fast enough, but - believe it or not – he’s been with Leon for five years now.”

“Good for them,” Arthur murmured, not sure which one Leon was. But that was not important now. “Gana, listen, to make a long story short, I need money.”

Morgana held up her hand as her mobile rang. “Hold that thought. I need to answer this.”

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Arthur wandered over to the catering table and took a bottle of water. When Morgana didn’t show up again, he settled in on a chair to watch what was happening. 

Which was basically an exact repeat of what he’d seen the other day. Blokes in various states of being undressed coming onto the set, shedding their clothes, starting to wank. Arthur didn’t really pay attention, he was too preoccupied. How could he tell Morgana about the situation? And how would she be able to help them?

His head snapped up when he caught movement from the corner of his eyes. That guy looked a lot like…oh God! Was it really…this couldn’t be…Percy? Arthur shrank down into his seat, trying to not catch Percy’s attention and yet trying to make sure that his mind didn’t play stupid tricks on him. Percy was constantly on his mind lately. Maybe the bloke was just as tall and fit and…not Percy at all? 

But when the man walked onto the set, radiating nervousness, there was no mistaking. It indeed was Percy. What the fuck was his roommate doing here?

But then it all fell into place in Arthur’s mind. All the late nights, the constant going out…Percy didn’t have a boyfriend at all, he was…no, the thought was too horrible to even think. But it looked like his friend, roommate, team mate, was selling his body to make ends meet. Arthur swallowed hard and was more lost than ever. 

“So…errr,” Gwaine looked at his sheet, “Percival, nice name, we can play with that in the title, and I can see you being a big star in the future, just…you know, go through with what we talked about, okay?”

Percy nodded and threw the cameras and people around him a look. 

Arthur didn’t know what to do. He was relieved that he was sitting in the half-dark, so Percy wouldn’t be able to spot him. But he also knew he shouldn’t even be here in the first place. If this was Percy’s idea of getting out of his financial troubles, he shouldn’t be here watching. Just as Arthur pondered to leave the studio, Gwaine yelled “And…action!” and that meant that nobody but the ‘actor’ was allowed to make more noise than to breathe. 

So he sat stock-still and couldn’t tear his eyes away as Percy pulled his t-shirt over his head in a move that Arthur had seen a thousand times before. It revealed flawless skin and more muscles than Arthur had consciously noticed before. Maybe Percy had worked out even harder lately? The shirt was dropped unceremoniously as Percy went for the button of his jeans, pulled the zipper down and wiggled out of the garment. Arthur bit his lip to not let the groan that built deep in his chest escape. Of course he’d seen Percy undress a lot of times, but never with that sexy wiggle of his hips. Swallowing hard, Arthur put a hand over the bulge in his own jeans. How would he be able to make it through this take? Would he ever be able to look Percy in the eye again? 

Percy shimmied his white boxer-briefs down and tossed them aside before he sat down on the bed, his back to the wall, one of his legs spread out, the other bent at the knee, letting that fall to the side. He slowly closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the wall as his fingers trailed down his massive chest, over his so well-defined abdomen and down to his cock. 

Arthur was breathing through his open mouth when he watched Percy sliding his fingers over the length, teasing himself, drawing it out before he finally wrapped his strong hand around it, giving it a few almost lazy tugs. He swallowed hard, the way Percy’s cock hardened and stood tall and proud, completely matching Percy’s built, made it hard to breathe. 

He almost made an annoyed sound as the camera guy got in the way and Arthur craned his neck to see what was going on. Luckily, he bloke moved around the bed again and Arthur witnessed as Percy played with his balls while pumping his erection faster. He knew it was so wrong to watch, but it was by far the hottest thing he’d ever seen. When Percy spread his legs a bit wider and slid down a fraction to start fingering his arse, Arthur bit his lower lip so hard he was sure it drew blood. His heart was beating wildly in his chest and when Percy came, come shooting up to his chest, Arthur knew he had to get out.

As soon as Gwaine yelled “Cut!”, Arthur jumped up and fled the room, his cheeks flaming, his erection making it difficult to walk at all.

He passed Morgana, who just came out of her office. 

“Arthur! You wanted to talk about something.”

“Not now,” he yelled back over his shoulder and opened the door. “I’ll call you.”

+++

He had thought all he needed was some fresh air and the drive back to school. But he nearly ran through a red light and didn’t pay attention when he changed lanes which caused other drivers to slam their brakes and honk wildly. It wasn’t as if Arthur hadn’t seen Percy half-hard before. There were always jokes in the locker room and sharing a room for two years already meant knowing a lot about the other, a lot more than you ever wanted to know.

But seeing him wank so sensually in front of the camera, teasing himself, pulling it out…Arthur wasn’t sure if that disturbed him or turned him on beyond belief. Well, his body didn’t leave room for doubts, he needed to get back before Percy did, so he had time to jerk off quickly or else he would die of a case of blue balls from walking around with a boner. 

Arthur came with a groan just as Percy opened the door and tossed his backpack down. He flushed the toilet, cleaned up and stuffed himself back in again. Leaning his forehead against the mirror, he grabbed the sink, trying to get his breath back. How would he be able to go out there and act all casually around Percy now? Maybe he should just tell him that he knew, that he had been there. But that meant admitting that he stayed to watch. And how could he tell Percy that what he was doing was wrong when he himself hadn’t done the right thing, which was to leave?

“Arthur? You in there?”

Snapping back to reality, Arthur took a deep breath. “Yeah, just a moment.”

“Can I borrow your notes? I can’t find mine!”

That was his Percy, the old Percy, the before-all-this-mess-happened-Percy, misplacing his notes all the time - or unable to read his own scribbling – borrowing Arthur’s. Arthur plastered a grin on his face and opened the bathroom door. 

“Sure.” 

As he handed him the sheets, he held onto them a moment, looking up at Percy. Did he look different? But why would anyone look different because he was the star of a porn movie? Percy looked like he always did, maybe a bit tired. “Everything alright?”

Percy took a deep breath and it looked as if he was about to say something. “Yeah, just tired, that’s all. But I need to prepare for this lecture.”

Arthur let go of the papers. At least Percy was trying to keep up with everything, wasn’t he? 

“Perce, I…” _I watched you wank_ No, he couldn’t say that. _I know what you do_ Wrong approach. _I know you have financial issues, let me help_

“What?” Percy looked expectantly at him.

The moment was over. “Nothing.” 

Arthur knew he should have said something, anything. To make Percy talk, to let him know he wasn’t alone, to make him believe there was a different way out. But how could Arthur tell him there was a different way when he hadn’t figured it out yet?

+++

The night before had been pure agony. The moment they’d hit the lights, Arthur tried to solve the problem at hand and when his mind had turned in circles for what felt like hours and he stopped staring at the ceiling and closed his eyes, the images were back. The way Percy had teased his nipples and how they perked up into tiny hard pebbles; the sight of him sliding his hand over his six pack; the image of his fingers reaching behind his balls…Arthur groaned and tried to readjust his hard-on. 

That Morgana had sent him the clip of Percy right before bedtime as an attachment to a mail that said _Little brother, I know he is just your type. Have fun!_ didn’t really help. He hadn’t opened the attachment. Arthur knew he should have deleted it right away, but then he had just saved it to his hard drive. 

Having Percy so close drove him crazy. It would be easy to just walk over and slip into bed with him. Well, that part wouldn’t be easy since Percy was too big for these tiny beds and the two of them would hardly fit in there, but Arthur’s imagination ran wild with all the things he would do to Percy. He tossed and turned. No! It was wrong! It was so so wrong! He would not wank again! Not that he hadn’t done it before with Percy sleeping at the other side of the room. He’d just never beaten off to the image of Percy in his mind while his friend softly snored. 

Arthur knew he needed to talk to Morgana. 

After a cold shower, he slipped out of their room before Percy even woke up. 

“Gana?”

“Arthur? Do you know what time it is?” 

His sister sounded half-asleep and he could picture her with her hair all over the place and sleepy eyes.

“I know, sorry if I woke you. But it’s important.” He left the house and went to his car. “Can I come over?”

“Now?”

“Yes, now.”

Morgana groaned. “Bring coffee.”

 

A while later, they sat in Morgana’s kitchen, both clutching the paper cups Arthur had brought. He’d stopped by his favorite coffee shop and even bought some muffins and brownies. 

“What is it that is important enough to wake me up at 7 am?” Morgana plucked at one of the muffins and put a little piece into her mouth. 

Arthur watched and once again realized how beautiful his sister was. Even at 7:30 in the morning, in old baggy sweatpants and a t-shirt, without her make-up on. He took a deep breath, swallowing the compliment. He knew flattery wouldn’t get him anywhere with her, even if he meant it. “The video you sent me last night…” 

Morgana threw him a long suffering look. “You didn’t wake me up because you got the hots for the boy, Arthur, did you? Please tell me you didn’t. I might have to kill you if you did.”

“No!” Which was only half true. Arthur had always known that Percy was a looker, but only since he found out what he was doing to stay in school, he had developed certain…cravings. “I just mean…do you know who he is?”

Groaning, Morgana leaned back, brought a foot under her knee and shook her head. “You could have just sent me an email and I would have given you his number.”

“You give out the numbers of your…actors?” Arthur frowned.

“No, but you’re my brother and since you obviously have it bad for this bloke…”

“That’s not it, Gana.”

“Oh, there it is again. Gana. What is it that you want, Arthur?”

Fiddling with the paper on his muffin, Arthur didn’t know where to start. “Remember when I said I needed money?”

“What have you done? Are you in trouble?” Morgana leaned forwards again, a frown on her face.

“I did nothing and it’s not me who is in trouble.”

“Come on, Arthur, just spill it.”

“Just listen!” Arthur tossed the muffin back on the table. It was difficult enough to ask her for advice without her interrupting him. When Morgana nodded, Arthur slowly told her about his roommate and that they revoked his scholarship and that he did…odd things…to earn the money for school to get his education finished. 

“And what does that have to do with the bloke from yester…oh!” Morgana looked at Arthur. “You’re saying that…that this bloke is…”

Arthur nodded. “Percy’s my roommate. But first and foremost, he’s my friend.”

“Your friend as in boyfriend?” she inquired.

Shaking his head, Arthur couldn’t keep the blush of his face. 

Morgana smiled that amused little smile of hers. “I see. You wish he were. And then I go sending you the footage of him wanking for the camera yesterday.”

“I...”

“Oh my God, you were there! You little pervert, you!” She grinned.

“I feel bad enough about that, Gana! I…I just don’t know how to tell him!” Arthur jumped up and paced back and forth.

“How about ‘Hey Percy, I have a crush on you, let’s go out’?”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it!” He came back to the table, turned the chair, straddled it and put his arms on the back rest and his chin on his arms. “How on earth should I tell him that I know that they will kick him out of school if he doesn’t pay and that I know how he makes the money?” He looked up. “How can I pay it for him so he doesn’t have to do this any longer?”

+++

They’d talked for hours, Arthur had even missed some classes and just made it back for practice. He was the last to run onto the field, his helmet in his hand. He was excited, but not about the two hours of practice. Morgana had been right, he needed to tell Percy what he knew. And then drag him along to see her. That would be the difficult part of this. And he’d manage it, all Percy had to do was to accept Morgana’s offer. 

His head wasn’t into practice and the coach made him run laps, so he only came back to their room later. Arthur dashed in, hoping that Percy wasn’t out again, doing…whatever he was doing when he was out and was relieved when he saw the familiar form hunched over his laptop. He tossed his backpack down and pulled up a chair. 

“We need to talk, Percy.”

“About what?” Percy still stared at the screen.

“I…about you, Percy, about what you’re doing when you’re out.” Damn, that came out all wrong. He never meant for it to sound so accusing. 

Percy’s heat shot up. “What do you know about that?” He sounded alarmed.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Arthur knew he had to do it. As hot as he found watching Percy, he couldn’t let him get into the porn business or continue with selling his body to strangers. “Everything.” 

Percy was about to get up, his face a mask of stone.

Reaching out for Percy’s wrist, holding him in place, Arthur looked at him. “Please! Please don’t run, it won’t solve anything. Just…listen?”

After he confessed that he’d taken the phone call and how he found the letter that upset Percy so much, Arthur told Percy how he’d seen him at the club and that he slowly put one and one together. 

Percy just sat there, staring at a point on the floor between his feet and didn’t move. 

Arthur took another deep breath, but he didn’t know how he could subtly tell Percy that he knew about the porn, too. But he had to be honest, he owed his friend that much. “And I know what you did yesterday.”

His shoulders slumping even more, Percy just whispered “How?”

Bracing himself for an outburst, probably for a quick upper-cut, at least for being shoved away, Arthur swallowed. “I was there.”

“You…,” Percy’s head shot up, “you were _there_?” He looked utterly confused.

Arthur nodded quickly. “Morgana is my sister. Well, my half-sister, even though a baby sitter once told us that there are no half sisters, so we dropped that.” But he was straying away from the topic at hand. “You know her, the tall one with the long dark hair?” He laughed. “Oh, you must know her, she’s probably the only woman there.”

“She’s…your sister?” Percy got up. “So she called you and you came over so you could have a good laugh? You’ve been there…all the time?”

Fuck, he screwed that up. “She didn’t know who you are. She didn’t know that I…she just invited me to the set as a distraction from studying. I…I’m sorry, Perce, I should have left, I know. But…” How could you tell your friend that he was the hottest thing this side of the Atlantic when you actually were trying to convince him to drop this job? “Percy, you shouldn’t…”

“I shouldn’t what? Who are you to tell me what I should and shouldn’t do?” Percy spun around. “You hypocrite! You didn’t even have the decency to tell me about the phone call! And then you spy on me and…” For a moment he looked really intimidating, but then all fight left him and he slumped down on the edge of his bed. “What else could I have done?” He whispered. “I flunked my classes. My own fault. But I want to finish school. And I need to pay for it somehow. Aside from football, this is the only talent I have.”

Arthur held his breath but then an annoyed sound escaped him. “That’s not true! I’m…I’m sorry for not telling you that I knew. I’m sorry for watching yesterday, but…Fuck, why is this so complicated!”

“Because you complicated it by spying on me. One year. Just one year and I’m done here. With a bit of luck I can get into a training camp with one of the big teams. The scouts are there at our games already. Just one year until then, I need that degree. Otherwise they won’t even consider me! And if I don’t make it in the NFL, I need something to fall back onto. What’s so difficult to understand, Arthur?”

“I don’t want you to do stuff that you hate and that you will regret later.”

“I have no choice.”

“Of course you do! What if you make it big in the NFL and then someone finds the porn you made? Your career would be over before it begins, no matter how good you are.”

Percy closed his eyes and swallowed hard. “What else could I do? Working in a coffee shop just doesn’t pay enough.”

Arthur sat down next to him. “Let me help you.”

“I don’t want your money.”

“It’s not mine and you won’t get it for free. Let’s go, Morgana wants to meet you.”

+++

It was one of them evenings that Arthur might have called cozy, which he would never admit. The rain was pounding against the window and they had made hot chocolate. The steam was rising from the mugs as he and Percy sat on Percy’s bed and watched a stupid action movie, commenting on the car chase and the stunts. 

It was good having Percy back. That night, they had gone to Morganas and talked for hours. Morgana had offered to pay Percy’s tuition. But he had to work for her to pay it back. Not in front of the camera, but they always needed people to haul stuff around or to scout out locations on the rare occasions that a movie required an outside setting. She needed help at the office, too. This way, if the subject of him working for a porn company ever came up, he didn’t need to lie. That one episode in front of the camera would be erased from their files.

Arthur had offered to help Percy with his classes and they found a tutor for the stuff Arthur couldn’t help him with. Percy was on a very tight schedule with classes, tutoring, practice, the games and working for Morgana, who more often than not, let him study with the only order to answer the telephone when it was ringing – which it rarely did in the evenings anyway. But Arthur loved that the easy comaraderie was back, that Percy engaged in their usual banter and that they got to spend time together. 

He still had a crush on Percy and it felt like that was growing every day, but he just couldn’t address it, Percy was under enough stress already. So Arthur just enjoyed evenings like this one, where they just sat close and commented on an absolutely brainless action movie. 

He pushed his mug at Percy. “Hold this, I need to go.”

Dutifully, Percy held on to the mug and tried to hit the pause button on the remote control. 

When Arthur came back from the bathroom, he wiggled around on the bed to find a comfortable position to sit and found himself even closer to Percy than before. Would Percy notice? Would he mind? 

But Percy just held his mug out to him, hit ‘play’ again and after taking a sip from his own mug, he slid down a bit and leaned his head against Arthur’s shoulder. 

The movie was forgotten. All Arthur could hear, see or feel was Percy. Percy, who was so fucking close with his head on his shoulder and yet so far out of reach. 

“Arthur?”

Arthur jumped. Had he missed something Percy had said? “Huh?”

“I wondered…the video…”

For a moment, Arthur had no clue which video Percy was talking about. They had seen quite a few in their classes and there were a few really funny ones on youtube they had laughed at for hours. “Video?”

“Yeah, from…from when I tried to work as an… actor…”

Oh. THAT video.

“What about it?” Arthur’s heart was beating in his throat.

“You still have it, right?”

Heat flooded Arthur’s cheeks. Had Percy snooped through his laptop? He’d never opened the file, never watched it. It had always been enough to recall what happened in his head, the memory was still fresh even after months. “Yeah,” he admitted and swallowed hard.

“Did you ever watch it?” Percy hadn’t moved and had his eyes fixed on the TV.

Arthur shook his head. “No.”

“Why not?”

Why not??? “I…you…it felt wrong.”

“But it didn’t feel wrong enough to delete it?”

Touché. Arthur didn’t really know why he clung to that file like he did. He had pondered deleting it, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. 

“Did you like being there?”

They had never talked about that afternoon in the studio. “It was weird, but somehow I couldn’t leave.” 

Before Arthur could apologize again, his breath caught in his throat when he felt Percy’s hand on his knee. 

“You liked what you saw?” The faintest of uncertainties in Percy’s voice. 

“I…,” what? I couldn’t leave because it would have made noise? I couldn’t leave because they told me not to disturb the shooting? “yeah”

Arthur’s cheeks were flaming red and he stared at the TV screen when he felt Percy looking up at him. “It’s constantly on my mind.”

“But you’ve never said a thing.” 

He could practically feel Percy’s stare at the side of his head but didn’t dare to look at him. “Isn’t everything complicated enough?”

“Don’t know…I thought it was very uncomplicated lately. Busy, but not as complicated as before.” Percy scrambled up a bit and Arthur already missed his warm cheek on his shoulder. “Arthur, look at me.”

Arthur slowly turned his head and found Percy looking at him. 

“I…I don’t know if you could even imagine being with a whore, but…”

Gasping, Arthur frowned. “Never call yourself that again! You aren’t and you never were a whore!”

Percy let out a humorless laugh. “And what else do you call it when you charge for having your cock sucked? When you pretend you enjoy the touching and kissing with people you never met before? It’s what I am.”

Fierce jealousy surged through Arthur. He always tried to shove the thought aside that so many men had gotten what he never had. And probably would never get. 

Sitting up, leaning his back against the wall, Percy sighed. “I think I ruined everything with that.”

“What do you mean?”

“How can I ever hope to find someone with a history like that?”

Arthur didn’t really like where this conversation was going. Percy had found back to himself in the past months, these self-doubts were something he didn’t need. “Nobody has to know.”

“But that would mean lying. And how would I explain when I jerk away because something reminds me of something I did for money and didn’t like one bit?”

Throwing Percy and alarmed look, Arthur didn’t dare to reach for him. “They forced you?”

“No! No, nobody forced me to do anything. But it’s not easy to do this stuff with people you don’t know at all and you hope will never see again.” Percy frowned. 

Arthur scrambled around until he was kneeling on the bed next to Percy. “Maybe…maybe you don’t need to explain. Maybe the person will understand?”

“To understand, the person would need to know about it.” Percy threw Arthur a shy look. 

“Well…” He knew, he understood, he would find a way to deal with the situation if it ever came up. “I’m here.” 

Percy looked up again. “You know what I’ve done and you’re still not disgusted?”

Arthur shook his head. “It’s…,” he shrugged, “like you had a few boyfriends before. And that day at the studio….” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life and I hoped so much that one day you’d do that again, just for me.” He cheeks were burning and he didn’t dare to look at Percy. 

“Just like that?”

He felt Percy close, his breath ghosting over his skin.

“No. Not like that. More like…like…I don’t know.”

Slowly he opened his eyes to find Percy looking at him.

“Tell me?”

Arthur looked away. “I think I’ve always liked you. I just didn’t want to mess up what we had. You’re my best friend. But when things got weird, I notice that I didn’t want to share you. And then we both were so busy…”

Before he could continue – he wasn’t even sure where his rambling would have led anyway – he felt Percy’s lips against his. Just a soft brush of warm skin. 

When he gently pulled back, Percy looked at him expectantly. Arthur grinned widely and threw his arms around Percy’s neck.

+++

 

Arthur groaned and stretched his neck as he finally closed the door behind him. It had been a long, tough day with negotiations about contracts and transfers. He dropped his briefcase and toed his shoes off as he shrugged out of his jacket. Loosening his tie, he made his way over to the bedroom. He just needed a hot shower and to change into some old sweatpants to feel human again. 

Percy was probably still at the club, working out or in some team meeting or other. 

Smiling to himself, he wondered how it all could have worked out so perfectly. They both had been invited to different trainings camps after college. All the teams had wanted Percy, but Arthur hadn’t got very far. Two weeks into camp, he had torn some ligaments and since he’d had the same injury before, nobody wanted him any longer. He was a risk that no coach wanted to take. Even though that hurt, Arthur knew he could rely on his business degree and quickly built a reputation as an agent, with Percy as his first client. 

This allowed him to move wherever Percy wanted to transfer to. Nobody had ever found out about Percy’s adventures while they were still in college and even though there was a small episode where the press found out about him working for Came-a-lot Productions, Morgana was quick to assure them that Percy only ever worked at the office and had nothing to do with the movies. 

Arthur was still smiling as he reached the bedroom door. Just this one last season and then Percy would retire, a Superbowl ring already on his finger, and they finally could stop pretending to just being friends when they were in public. They had come so far, what was another year?

He stopped dead in his tracks when he entered the bedroom. A chair was placed at the foot of the bed and Percy stood next to it, in jeans and a skimpy old t-shirt, barefoot. 

“Sit.”

Arthur slowly sank down onto the chair. “What…? Percy, what’s this about?”

“Ssssh. This is something you wanted a long time ago. And I think you might still like it now.” He grinned and then slowly pulled the t-shirt over his head to carelessly toss it aside. 

Arthur’s eyes went wide when Percy opened the button of his jeans and then shoved it over his hips, revealing white boxer briefs. This was…Percy wasn’t about to…

Percy shimmied his underwear down with the same wiggle he had done the move with all these years ago. He lounged on the bed, whispered “Just for you” as he threw Arthur a challenging look and slid his hand slowly down his torso…


End file.
